Mas from Latina

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You heard it here first: “The South will rise again…with the help of Latinos.” This phrase – said with a wink and a nod – is a favorite of Chef Anthony Lamas, the California-born son of Mexican and Puerto Rican parents now serving up Southern Latino food in Louisville, Kentucky. Say what?

It’s fair if you didn’t follow. Lamas has been around. But where some might rest on their laurels after opening a successful eatery – his Seviche restaurant is consistently named one of Louisville’s best – the three-time semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef: Southeast” award and 2011 winner of The Food Network’s Extreme Chef has no plans to slow down.

Lamas recently launched Master of Mixes, a first-ever line of gourmet, chef-inspired Bloody Mary blends; has a cookbook slated for publication in Fall of 2015 wherein he shares stories from his years spent working on the family farm in California’s Central Valley; and remains dedicated to raising awareness of sustainable seafood practices. (He earned a Seafood Ambassador Award at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s 2011 Cooking for Solutions festival.)

Last night, Lamas was in New York presenting a “Sustainable Seafood Celebration” at the esteemed James Beard House. It was his sixth time in the Beard kitchen, and attendees (myself among them) were not disappointed.

What did Lamas serve at his James Beard House dinner? Click through to find out...